Slopes Board has been working hard and closely with officials from the City and the Province to lift the restrictions being imposed on the use of our community’s South Gate from the 31st of December 2019.

 

We wish to inform the community, that the City has acknowledged our concerns and has been working closely with Alberta Transportation (AT) and its Ring Road team. AT has advised that, while the gate needs to be removed, they will not restrict the access to the Slopes community through until Spring 2020. The South Gate will remain open.

During this time the City will work closely with AT and continue to advocate a solution that meets the needs of all parties. The City has already started working with its Planning Department to help identify, plan, and design solutions to ensure that The Slopes continues to have two entrances and exits to the community that are accessible, in particular to school buses, emergency vehicles, and other local traffic..

 

Slopes Board.

 

Thank you for your overwhelming support to ensure that The Slopes gains both a temporary and permanent access through a South Gate. A sub committee of the Board, met with Jeff Davison on November 21 and provided a presentation outlining our concerns and goals. We look forward to updating you on the outcome of this meeting and the actions that will be taken to ensure our South Gate access.

Update— January 15, 2020

The City has already started working with its Planning Department to help identify, plan, and design permanent solutions to ensure that The Slopes continues to have two entrances and exits to the community that are accessible, in particular to school buses, emergency vehicles, and other residential traffic.

The process for a new south access point has begun. The Board has received notification from Alberta Transportation that the physical gate barrier on our south side must be removed from its current location within the next few days, due to expiry of the associated lease.

Although the physical gate will be removed from its current location in the next few days, access to Lower Springbank Road from the south end of Slopeview Drive will continue uninterrupted until April 2020.

Update June 2020

When the community learned that as of December 31, 2019 we would no longer have access to our south exit because of the construction of the West Calgary Ring Road, the Board established The Slopes South Gate Access Committee. The role of the committee was to negotiate with the City of Calgary and provincial government to ensure our access through a new south gate continues in the best way that services our community (such as school buses, emergency vehicles, deliveries, and regular traffic).

During our negotiations, we learned that the ultimate responsibility for the design and development of the new south exit lies with the City of Calgary, Planning Department. We are pleased to report that at our last meeting with City Planners the following option met with most agreement from all parties.

“The emergency access includes a gate on private land that functions in the same manner as the previous gate and the standard emergency access locked gate would be removed. It would provide a visual barrier but it would open for any vehicle that approaches.”

The City has agreed that the Slopes requires a second point of emergency vehicle access.  This emergency road will require a development agreement with the City to ensure an access agreement is in place across lands that are not a legal road right of way.  The City has agreed to support and work closely with The Slopes community to obtain this permit as and when required. Alberta Transportation has indicated our south access will remain throughout the construction period.

We will continue to update the community on timelines of construction, permits, traffic flow during construction and new gate installation.

We are deeply grateful to all members of the community who signed our petition to keep our south access.

Thank you to all who were involved in the negotiations: